10^16 to 1
Encyclopedia
"1016 to 1" is a science fiction
novelette
published in 1999 by James Patrick Kelly
. It was the winner of the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Novelette
. It was also nominated for the 2000 Locus award and Asimov's Reader Poll.
of October 1962. During the Cold War
tensions of the time Ray meets Cross, a man he believes is from the future. He offers him a temporary place to stay in his family’s back yard bomb shelter and proceeds to acquire the items necessary for Cross's mission. When he doesn't tell his parents about Cross, and comes home one afternoon to find that his mother has discovered an intruder in the bomb shelter, events quickly spiral out of control and Ray becomes convinced that he is the only one able to prevent World War III.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novelette
Novelette
A novelette is a piece of short prose fiction. The distinction between a novelette and other literary forms is usually based upon word count, with a novelette being longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella...
published in 1999 by James Patrick Kelly
James Patrick Kelly
James Patrick Kelly is an American science fiction author who began publishing in the 1970s and remains to this day an important figure in the science fiction field....
. It was the winner of the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Novelette
Hugo Award for Best Novelette
The Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
. It was also nominated for the 2000 Locus award and Asimov's Reader Poll.
Plot summary
The story follows Ray Beaumont, a 12 year old boy living in New York during the Cuban Missile CrisisCuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
of October 1962. During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
tensions of the time Ray meets Cross, a man he believes is from the future. He offers him a temporary place to stay in his family’s back yard bomb shelter and proceeds to acquire the items necessary for Cross's mission. When he doesn't tell his parents about Cross, and comes home one afternoon to find that his mother has discovered an intruder in the bomb shelter, events quickly spiral out of control and Ray becomes convinced that he is the only one able to prevent World War III.
External links
- 1016 to 1 at BestScienceFictionStories.com - short story reviews and resources.